PS5 May Soon Be Unchallenged by Xbox in Some Regions

To be fair, PS5 is unchallenged in most areas that Microsoft sells Xbox aswell anyway. 😅

Xbox is certainly ceding the console space. Its next launch will be niche but may find some success in that niche. I honestly still think they purchased ABK for King more so than activision and blizzard. Their ideal outcome would be turning their platform into an accessible mobile style platform with gamepass as their more successful and streamlined Apple Arcade. That’s likely to generate substantial income and cut production cost but at the expense of quality and established Xbox fans. It’s a really interesting time to follow games as a business.

I'm not surprised, also it will change little since Sony has been basically unchallenged for at least a generation.

It's funny because I'm actually trading in my Series X today, and will just use my old One S for backwards compatible 360 games. I think this is their last gen

Jez Corden is continuing to play defense for his beloved Microsoft, I see.

There's just no reason to buy a Series console. Microsoft's games underwhelm. They're jacking up subscription prices and dropping acclaimed developers. And the system is an afterthought for numerous developers.

I agree they're largely ceding the home console space to Sony. More money to be made as a software publisher than competing with hardware. I think they'll keep a console option around, but I also think most of their games will go to rival platforms in the future.

PS5 May Soon Be Even More Unchallenged by Xbox in Some Regions

There, fixed it for you.

This is bad. I really hate how far Microsoft has fallen, because when Microsoft was a hitter in the gaming market, they MADE Sony adapt to keep players. More games, better pricing, and they tried NEW things. Ever since Xbox turned into a service, it slowly started killing the quality of the console market.

That reponse from Microsoft is funny

I'd be curious to hear from others with first-hand experience, but Xbox was non-existent in the lexicon of the many people on my Middle Eastern side of the family. If you bought anything game-related, it was a PlayStation or a handheld Nintendo device. Granted, this is just my limited experience, but I also currently know quite a few Middle Easterns that associate gaming purely with PlayStation.

With the next Xbox console rumored to hit market in 2026 and a ‘Nintendo Switch’ like hybrid device it’s possible Xbox could enjoy success like the NS and over take PlayStation. No one could’ve predicted the overwhelming popularity of the NS so in theory it could happen again. Granted Xbox’s first party IP isn’t as beloved as Nintendo’s, but only time will tell.

@Amppari It is amusing. It's typical Xbox corpo non-speak.

@BasedBear Agreed 100%. I play Nintendo more than I do anything else and own all three major consoles. I remember that Xbox 360 forced Sony to make more consumer-driven decisions just like PS4 forced Microsoft to abandon their always online DRM aspirations in 2012. Any company going unchallenged sucks for consumers.

Anyone who thinks this is a good thing is either a kid or doesn't understand how monopolies only mean higher prices and poorer service for customers

>Sony still has plenty of problems of its own to solve: hardware prices keep rising, which is preventing it from reaching the mainstream console audience PlayStation has always enjoyed in the past.

Not really. It's tracking very close in numbers to where the PS4 was at this point in its lifecycle (and that's even with the supply/manufacturing issues over with the first two years), is well ahead of PS3 and will probably sell at least as many as the PS1 did.

So the only Sony console it can't keep up with is the PS2, AKA (still) the most successful console of all time.

@EvilBear Ha, Evil"Bear"

Yes, Ps3/350 era was the best because both companies made hits and had to compete.

I haven't gotten into a main Nintendo console since the Gamecube. I kept updated on the hand-helds until they merged it with the home console, which forces you not to have a choice. Has Nintendo modernized their online infrastructure yet? Are they still tying games to the console instead of the account like they did in the Wii/Wii-U days? That's been keeping me from adding their main console. Well that and how they don't modernize their hardware. Though with how slow consoles have been going in terms of actual graphics (no AI upscaling), they might have a chance to catch up. Generally, I usually enjoy Nintendo I.Ps after taking a break a few gens then returning, because when compared to Sony/MS (Until as of late), they usually don't come out with many new I.Ps. Mainly Mario, Zelda, DK, Smash, Metriod, Kirby, and Pokemon with the new releases playing mostly the same even as earlier ones.

"We just can't sell em"

"Eh put em in that landfill with the Alf merchandise"

With all due respect, wtf is this article?

Yes, the rumor came up several weeks ago but Microsoft themselves have said it isn’t true and they’re not leaving any region at least right now, yet you chose to post this when it was already debunked.

These posts only fuel console wars between the fanboys, just read at the comments, and may I remind you that MS getting out of the console market in whatever way just isn’t good for any PS users, a $699 console with no disc drive that has no direct competition should be indicative enough that we NEED more competition in the console space, and yet there’s people wishing that Xbox cease to exist, if y’all get your wish we’ll get even more expensive consoles, games, services, and more, but for some it doesn’t matter as long as Sony is on top…

I wonder if Xbox will just make games and not hardware in the future?

@IOI "a $699 console with no disc drive that has no direct competition should be clear enough that we NEED more competition in the console space."

This isn't a competition issue, this is the result of individual decisions made by the platform holders. Microsoft literally said at the start of the generation that they don't expect to make their own refresh due to the rising costs of doing so. Sony think they can sell enough machines to make it worthwhile, but they can't subsidise it even the cost issues regarding the base unit, hence the price. If anything Microsoft have the bigger insight into the cost of developing a mid gen system because the One X was a much more complicated effort than the PS4 pro, which was basically just two gpu's stuck together.

better competition from Microsoft wouldn't be changing this because Microsoft would have the same situation themselves.

I agree the market needs competition, but the Pro isn't the result of a lack of it.

Google online game service folded just in 2-3 years. Google is as big as Microsoft and even they don't want to keep losing such a large amount of money. Yes GP is more successful but regardless what Microsoft says about revenue, the service is surely bleeding money.

@LowDefAl Competition doesn’t necessarily mean having to also come up with a Pro model and price it cheaper, if MS was more competent this generation and managed to shorten the gap between the Xbox Series and PS5 I would bet that the PS5 Pro wouldn’t have crossed that $699 line, but since Sony is outselling them 3:1 or even 5:1 in some regions they can absolutely price it however they want.

Lets say that in a somehow scenario in 2024 both consoles are neck-to-neck as in the PS360 generation, do you really think any of these companies would introduce a $699 console with no disc drive? What would the reaction to this be back on 2009 if Sony came up with a PS3 Pro?

And again, my criticism isn’t against Sony, but towards the fanboys that keep wishing Xbox is dead without even realizing how MS’ incompetence is already costing us (literally more money), and yet even the author of this post seems to fuel this wish with a rumor that at least right now has been debunked.

With all their money you'd think MS would just accept losses and sell the Series X at $300 or future consoles on the cheap, that would capture the masses worldwide. Then they can think of profit in the long run. Thought that was why 360 sold, an equally powerful console as the PS3 but cheaper.

@TheArt Microsoft didn't get where they are today by not being greedy.

In other breaking news, the Earth is round. Of course, this statement will also have its naysayers and deniers with heads buried in the sand.

@Ralizah “There's just no reason to buy a Series console” Well you can easily get game pass ultimate for free in most regions through rewards. And in a few weeks you’ll get at no extra cost the same game that millions will pay 80 on the ps5.
A lot of first party games are kinda disappointing, I agree, and yet looks like they sold pretty well on the ps5. Guess why? At least at Microsoft they’re developing and shipping new games, it’s not that they’re only focused on crappy gaas and remaster. Speaking of which, ever heard of backwards compatibility + fps boost + auto hdr? Perhaps it’s not the xbox series that is overestimated after all. Not to mention they’re offering an affordable platform with the series s instead of annoying the entire internet with their 900€ console. There are way other reasons but that’s more than enough.

I think outside of the USA and the UK, the only big European country that seems to buy Xbox, I don’t think they sell that many.

However it is a dam shame, if nothing else Xbox console competition helps keep Sony in check.
We all know what they can be like the Sony top dogs and they don’t need any superior being like moments.

@IOI
Totally agree with you, good competition is good for us gamers. This is not ideal for us if Xbox consoles go down.

You have to look at Microsoft’s overall strategy and realise the potential death of the Xbox console is totally down to them 100%.

If you actually paid someone to kill the Xbox console off, they probably could not have done a better job than Microsoft are doing.

I think the series x is a better base console than the PS5, better form factor and things like quick resume etc and slightly more powerful, but the power has never really been seen as Xbox development is for all devices and they don’t micro management their studios.

What was the point to sell CoD earlier then? I'm glad to hear that MS is struggling TBH, three times I tried to play on Xbox, every time sucked. This is a knife with two sides though. If Sony (I love Sony, don't get me wrong) gets the monopole, they're going to do whatever they want....

@IOI people like us that support the whole console industry both know MS already said they aren’t dong this 2 weeks ago. But this is the same site that has wrote more article about Halo coming to PS5 than they have about Ghost of T, you know the only game Sony has announced in a year. The game that will be cross gen but i digress. PS sites and fan’s have wait at least 12 months for a big announcement from Sony and all Push Square hypes up is a for now fake idea that Halo is coming to PS5. We know it’s for clicks and to hype the console wars. The only true war’s there is between these brands is money and profit in which MS is set to clearly win. Hence Sony scrambled to find a live service game and over paid for Bungie. Let’s have a friendly bet we see another Halo article on this site before anything about Ghost of T.

@IOI so what is Microsoft’s excuse for releasing a £550 series X?

Hopefully MS keep selling everywhere even if it is low numbers.